Finding a good UK-based holiday can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. You know what you’re looking for (a beach, somewhere nice to sleep and child friendly facilities) but sometimes it can be daunting searching all of the holiday sites for a good bargain. Gone are the days when you could just browse teletext for a good deal - now you have to trawl through endless price comparison websites and hope the site will be nice when you get there.

As it happened I had been told about Bluestone by a nameless member of Center Parcs security during a chat about the pricing of their treehouse lodges. He told me that their Operations Manager had upped sticks to go and work for Bluestone, who were fast becoming their no.1 competitor. My interest was peaked and we decided to check it out.

Bluestone is a smallish holiday village based in Narbeth, Pembrokeshire. Easily accessible by road and close to the seaside. Bluestone is a fairly new entry to the British holiday market and it’s original site opened in 2008. The company employs over 500 people across the site and has 268 timber lodges. At the time of our stay they were also speedily building a whole new area of more lodges, including some semi-detached ones for larger families.

COMMUNICATION

Bluestone added me to their mailing list after the booking was completed but I haven’t found their marketing to be overly intrusive. As the date approached I received a couple of reminder emails about booking activities, but nothing too over-the-top. The emails were also well put together and all of the links worked - which was a bonus! I did check out booking activities beforehand but as we hadn’t been to the site I wanted to see them in person before laying down the cash. We also hadn’t really planned what we were doing on and off site for the week so held out.

CHECK-IN AND DEPARTURE

When we arrived at exactly 4:30pm we were greeted cheerily by Emma and there was hardly any queue to get in. She was very thorough in explaining all of the bits and pieces in the manual and helped us to find our lodge for the week on the map. We then entered the one-way system and got a bit lost, but soon found where we were staying. It was apparent during our little tour around the one-way system that Bluestone is quite hilly and I wondered about how we would manage to walk around - particularly my dad (who is old and basically past it).

ACCOMMODATION

After locating the our lodge we had a bit of fun with the electronic RFID key cards - OOOH FANCY!!!! The door swung open and we were greeted with an absolutely stunning lodge. Bluestone have got their accommodation absolutely nailed - it is perfect in every way. We had a Skomer lodge which will very comfortably sleep 6 people, plus travel cots. There is one travel cot included in the lodge costs but more are available for hire. Away for the week in our party were four adults, one teenager and a bed-sharing toddler. We called dibs on the only double bed room, teenager had the other upstairs and my parents took the downstairs. Both bedrooms upstairs had enormous en-suites attached to them, whilst the bedroom downstairs benefitted from a wet-room/bathroom directly next door.

The lodge itself was set to a comfortable 21 degrees and we kept the heating at that level all week.

What was immediately noticeable was how child-friendly the lodge was. There are stair gates fitted to the top and bottom of the stairs (thank goodness!!!!), safety catches in the kitchen and blind cord guards on all the windows. This immediately sends it to the top of our list above Forest Holidays having endured a week long stay in a Forest Holidays lodge which didn’t have any safety features at all and a very big staircase.

The kitchen had a table with six chairs plus a highchair included as standard. It was also very large and was stocked with everything you could possibly need - including plenty of crockery and a dishwasher. It also had a separate freezer - very important when feeding a family of 6 for a week!

All of the bedrooms were very tastefully and contemporarily decorated, with lots of nice modern features. The beds were exceptionally comfortable and the black-out curtains were very handy for ensuring a lie-in (if only toddlers knew what one of those is!). Everybody had a week of great sleep, and the whole site was noticeably very quiet after around 9pm which meant it was easy to settle children to sleep.

THE GOLF BUGGY'S

My worries about how hilly the site appeared to be and how to get around were answered quite soon after we had a quick walk around the site to orientate ourselves on the first night.

There are…

Golf Buggies…

EVERYWHERE!!!!

The hire of a golf buggy for mid-week will set you back £80 plus a £50 deposit. For us as a family of 6 there weren’t enough seats on one to justify it (4 seats) but I imagine if you are a family of two adults with two kids, whose legs inexplicably stop working at inopportune moments, then I can see this being an excellent investment. If you are one of those lucky people who can afford a 7 day holiday then the cost of a week’s hire is £150 plus the deposit.

The golf buggy’s can be hired from the Bike and Buggy Hire which is located very close to the Blue Lagoon and the main car park.

FACILITIES

On site the facilities available really are excellent. There is a well-stocked shop which had very competitive prices and pretty much every household essential you could possibly want during a holiday, including frozen food such as pizzas alongside fresh produce. There was also a small area of souvenirs.

Next door was a small toy shop which we didn’t dare go in with the toddler! They had branded Bluestone dragons in the window which I did mean to go back and buy but never managed to get round to it.

And next door to those shops was the Arcade which was the only thing on site other than the pub open till late (10pm). The arcade was small but usually had a few people in it playing the games. I’m sure it would cater well enough to the needs of a teenager who was bored and whose parents wanted to have a quiet drink in the pub for half an hour!

Outside the Grillhouse is also a vending machine which contained household essentials such as bread and milk - perfect if you arrive late your first night and the other shops are all closed! I thought this was an ingenious idea and should definitely be published somewhere at the entrance once the main shop has closed for visitors still entering the site desperate for a cuppa in their lodge.

THE BLUE LAGOONThis is where, I have to say, the holiday fell a little bit short. I’ve been spoiled by the Subtropical Swimming Paradise on a certain competitors sites and in comparison the Blue Lagoon is more like a council-run swimming pool. The ceiling is kind of a half-glass, half-wood mix which isn’t that attractive to look at. The Blue Lagoon is also quite small and I can imagine it gets INSANELY busy in school holidays. The main point for me though where it mostly disappointed me was the closing time - 6pm! That’s barely enough time to get dinner inside a toddler after a day out and then down to the pool. Or even dinner inside yourselves. So unless we were planning to go swimming and then go out (my hair won’t tolerate these kinds of shenanigans) or have an early swim before dinner it wasn’t really a possibility to go there. Another thing which I found both good AND bad was that members of the public could use it after 10am, which I can imagine adds an added layer of chaos during busy summer months. You could use it exclusively as a resident between 9am and 10am though, which I guess is great if you have hair that behaves itself after getting wet and not many plans off-site for the day. I have to be honest - having a late swim as the sun is going down is a wonderful end to a fun-filled day, and I did have a bit of a sulk about this closing time on the first night as i was hoping to go there after the long drive down only to find we couldn’t ! I did see an advert that on selected nights for 1 month in the summer they do open later. Personally I would prefer them to open at 10am and close at 9pm, but I’m sure research has been done as to why this isn’t possible.

Inside the Blue Lagoon you have a large changing area with plenty of family cubicles. There are also substantial amounts of lockers and we didn’t have a problem finding either a changing cubicle or a locker. Again, during summer, I imagine this becomes a hive of chaos.

Once inside you’ve got the obligatory large pool which has a “beach” slope leading into the water. The water is a very good temperature and remained as such throughout the week which was very impressive. We stayed at CP Elveden back in February and they had had water problems which meant the ’Subtropical’ paradise was actually freezing cold! So warm water and a warm building were very enjoyable. As I’ve mentioned before the decor didn’t really match up to a “Blue Lagoon” environment as it was all a bit MDF and felt like it needed finishing off?? There were two play areas for children inside the Lagoon, one of which was gated to keep toddlers contained. The gated toddler area is also staffed by a lifeguard and contained lots of play equipment and a mini waterfall area which the toddlers can play in. Our son enjoyed this very much!

There was no tarzan call… but there was a wave machine! I think whatever alarm signals for the wave machine was broken when we visited as the waves were announced with a whistle blow from the lifeguard. The waves were excellent and good quality. Lots of shouting at people was done by the lifeguards as there were quite a few who strayed into the deeper waters where the waves were being generated! It is a small pool though so again during summer I think it might become impossible to keep people away from the deeper waters due to the capacity of the pool.

There are also a number of giant slides on offer! The teenager went down all of them several times and said they were “OK” (which could mean anything). I’m not a fan of water slides and the toddler isn’t old enough for them so we stayed away from that area.

I have to say I was overall quite disappointed with the Blue Lagoon’s offering. It was very reminisce of the sort of pool which you would find on a budget caravan site, rather than a site with luxury lodges. It served a purpose but we did only visit it twice during our stay. I think if it had been open later and had more of an outdoor area then I might have been more impressed and used it more often.

NIGHT-TIME ENTERTAINMENT

I’ll be honest - we aren’t usually the sort of family who goes in for the night-time entertainment offerings of a holiday park. The very mention of such brings back memories of holiday park entertainment from holiday’s in the 90’s with lots of cheesy songs and bad impersonators. So when we accidentally found ourselves in the middle of the Wednesday night “Knights Tafarn” evening entertainment we weren’t sure what to make of it. Lorraine and Abi lead the show and I have to say we were genuinely laughing at their performance. We opted to take part in the “Deal or No Deal” and I’m glad we did because I won the bottle of wine! Having been genuinely entertained by the night-time entertainment we decided to come back on the Thursday night for the pub quiz. Although no bottles of wine were won in that! And our scores are a closely-guarded secret that only us and the recycling bin will ever know.

ACTIVITIES

I have to confess - we didn’t do many activities at all! We were just so busy on and off-site all week that we didn’t have chance to sign up for anything. But we were aware there was lots to do for all ages (including little ones - baby massage, baby sensory). We were given the free passes to the spa, but I think we would have been tempted by this as soon as we saw it on-site anyway. But it was a nice compensation for having loud building works going on next door from 8am every morning!

The Teenager did venture out to the Adventure Centre looking for the climbing session but due to it being off-season the activities were running in rotation and he didn’t want to stand around and wait. But i’m sure the climbing facilities are very excellent to use, as they looked as such.

FOOD AND DRINK ON-SITE

There are a few options for food and drink on site. Knights Tafarn is the on-site pub which offers a variety of standard pub food and is open until 11pm (food stops at 9pm). On the Wednesday night we were a bit greedy and decided to share the banana sundae - it was HUGE!

There is also a bakery/coffee shop which has a variety of cakes and savouries. I am very enthusiastic about my cake but didn’t manage to make it down there at all - we were just too busy doing other things! My parents took the toddler and they reported back the cakes were very nice. And yet didn’t bring me one...

For a bit more upmarket than the Knights Tafarn you’ve got the Grillhouse which offers a selection of steak / family pub chain type fare, although we didn’t have chance to try this out. I did go in briefly when booking a table for the Oaktree and it was quite spacious and the food looked plentiful!

On the same lines as the Grillhouse there is also Camp Smokey, which is situated down a steep stony track near the Steep Ravine centre. There is also a board walk which you would be able to take buggies / wheelchairs up and down. We weren’t around during Camp Smokey’s opening hours (last food at 4:30, closes at 5) so can’t comment on the food from here. The promotional literature looked good though and it’s definitely on the list for next time.

During our stay we ventured into the Adventure Centre and found the Wildwood Cafe. This is a very cute cafe which appears to host a storytelling session and breakfast time. There is a balcony area. The staff member in the cafe was also very cheery, despite us wandering in as his only customers for the last hour of the day! Inside the cafe is also a little hut with beanbags and a movie screen. During our visit the “Smurfs” movie was playing. Very handy for parents of fast eaters who want to be left to finish their meal in peace!

Right at the top of the Bluestone food chain is the Oaktree Restaurant. Children are not permitted after 7pm although they have highchairs for meals with children in attendance before then. It is situated in the main complex and has lift access from inside the Knights Tafarn. We decided to go to the Oaktree on our last night as a treat, since we had babysitters in attendance! We had starters and a main course and I actually struggled to finish my main course as the starters had been huge. The food was exceptionally good and a majority of it appeared to be locally sourced.

THE SPA

About a week before our holiday I received a phone call from a nice man in the Bluestone customer services team informing me that during our stay we would be subjected to the building works which were still going on on-site. He apologised for this inconvenience and offered FREE SPA PASSES for every adult in our party. YES PLEASE! He then also offered to book them so that two adults at a time could go whilst the other two looked after the children. BONUS!

So on the Wednesday off me and my husband toddled to the Well Spa. The building itself is actually very beautiful and tastefully decorated, with quite an imposing door on the outside! Once inside the main entrance you are most definitely in a spa and are greeted by a member of staff who confirms your booking and hands you your robe, towel and slippers. The only thing you need to bring with you is a £1 coin for the lockers and your swimming kit.

The changing rooms for the ladies are painted a magenta pink (my favourite colour!) and have sofas, a large changing area and four showers. Plus toilets and lockers too. There are also two rows of mirrors complete with hair dryers and plug sockets (for other hair styling implements). There are also baskets around the changing rooms for disposing of your slippers, robe and towel afterwards.

You are then led upstairs to the main spa area. We opted to start in the thermal rooms and begin with the herbal steam. It says it is set to 45 degrees and is very good for clearing out the passages! Other thermal rooms include two saunas (brick and slate), a marine steam room (very hot!!), a salt room and then an ice room (10 degrees) for cooling off in afterwards. On the way to the pool / outside decking you pass Caffi Y Mor where you can order hot drinks / food and have them charged to a tab, which saves carrying money around. We then settled our tab after we’d gotten changed and our spa session had finished.

We noticed but didn’t use a couple of other rooms called “The Sanctuary” which were comfortable reclining beds which you could relax on in a private room. There were also a couple of sofas which you could sit and relax on away from the other rooms.

For your money you get 2 hours unlimited usage of the spa facilities and afterwards you are welcome to get changed and eat food in the cafe. We didn’t feel rushed to vacate the spa but stuck to our timings and made sure we were out in enough time to let more people through. The spa was not especially busy whilst we were in and we mostly had exclusive use of every room we opted to go in. We went in each room and the pool at least twice! We also enjoyed hot drinks on the decking in the sunshine, which was absolutely lovely.

I can highly recommend the spa for a visit during your stay at Bluestone! We will definitely visit it again during future trips to the park.

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS

Part of the debate around choosing a British holiday is the worry about whether there will be enough to do in the local area. As it stands Bluestone is very well-placed for local attractions and amenities - you can actually see the Oakwood Theme Park from inside the village as it is directly next door. A week or so before I had visited he tesco clubcard website and found they are currently running a ‘boost’ on points. I typed in “Wales” and it came up with Folly Farm, which happened to only be 5 miles down the road from Bluestone. I purchased £60 worth of vouchers for £15 (enough for the 6 of us) and they arrived a couple of days later. Folly Farm was a brilliant day out and there is plenty to do there for all ages. The penguin underwater walkway was a particular highlight!

On the Thursday we decided we needed to go to the seaside and so opted for Tenby. The South Beach is absolutely gorgeous with beautiful pale sands and a superbly clean beach. We had about an hour of fun on the beach before investigating the town. Thanks to guidance from tripadvisor we went to Caladewer for lunch and The Stowaway Coffee Company for a quick break later on. Both establishments did not disappoint!

Within driving distance of Bluestone there are many beaches and little/villages towns to explore and so you could easily fill a week’s holiday between on-site activities and off-site. We always like to have a nice balance between on and off-site things to do, although you could easily spend the whole week on site and only return to your car on leaving day.

Hardly a local attraction but we found the largest “local” supermarket is the Tesco Extra at Carmarthen, which is 30 miles away. We met up with the rest of our party here to do a food shop for the week. As you approach Bluestone, and on-site, you’ll only find smaller and slightly more expensive shops.

NO DOG / NO CAR POLICY

At Bluestone they operate a strict no-dog and no-car policy on site. This was great news for us as it meant we didn’t have to worry a great deal about safety whilst on-site, although the silent golf buggy’s nearly took us out a few times! I can see this being an issue with some dog-owning families but this didn’t apply to us. So if you own a dog then Bluestone sadly isn’t for you.

CHILD FRIENDLY BITS

Upon arrival into the lodge it was evident they had considered their target audience carefully - there were stair gates fitted to the top and bottom of the staircase (thank goodness!) and blind cord safety devices on all the windows. This was such a fantastic touch and meant we could worry less in the night about the toddler escaping and trying to get downstairs silently (a regular occurrence).

The thing which had to be the absolute star attraction was the little published, at least nowhere we could find it afterwards, Circus Zone. The Circus Zone is a large room FILLED with soft play and toys suitable for children aged 0-6 years. For us, with a toddler, this was amazing! There are also sofas for the parents and it’s just down the hall from the Wildwood Cafe (in the Adventure Centre) which meant you could also go and buy drinks and snacks to sit and eat whilst your children throw themselves around in the safety of this room. Whilst we were in there a number of other parents wandered in having looked through the door window to have a look at what was inside - nobody had known it was there! There isn’t even a sign on the door. If you come out of the lift and turn right then it is the door at the end of the corridor. Or from the Wildwood Cafe you come out and turn left and head down that corridor near to the lift.

Downstairs in the Adventure Centre is also a HUGE play area which basically fills the whole of the centre. It has several large towers - one of which is the play area and the other two are part of the climbing activity. There is also another soft play area downstairs for under 5’s and during our visit a bouncy castle was also blown up at the back of the hall. When we were in it was a sunny day so it was practically empty in the whole centre with no activities running at the time we were there.

Also attached to the Adventure Centre is the creche, which we didn’t need to use as we had grandparents staying with us for the week. But there is no reason why we wouldn’t use it during future holidays as we had a quick nosy and it seemed to be very well-presented with lots of different activities inside.

There is an outdoor play area for children (roughly aged 0-10 years) in the main Village area which was busy every time we walked past, despite us holidaying in quite a quiet week! We didn’t actually get chance to use it as we were just so busy, but it looked good and definitely something our son would enjoy.

THE COST

The pricing is actually very agreeable and definitely competitive. For 6 people (including two children) to stay mid-week in mid-June it is £399. That is absolutely within our budgets and really excellent value for money. Much like every single other holiday company out there they do a “school holiday tax” so the prices hike from the end of June, but if you can holiday off-season and outside of school holidays then you are quids in!

Once on site the activities are reasonably priced too. For instance, the climbing session is priced at £15 per person. This is very reasonable and really not much more than you would expect to pay at an independent climbing centre. And that includes all equipment hire too!

We found out at the end of the holiday you can charge things back to your room and pay the balance on departure - this is very useful and we would have liked to have known this at the start of the holiday. But we now know for next time.

WHERE DOES BLUESTONE FEATURE IN THE HOLIDAY MARKET?

For the first half of the week I honestly felt that Bluestone was more Centre Parcs than Forest Holidays (their two main competitors). But now I’m going to say it sits somewhere between Haven Holidays and Forest Holidays in terms of the Great British Holiday. I think they’re actually striving to be less than Center Parcs and are striding out with their own brand here. This was quite refreshing to see as the holiday market is becoming quite saturated with Butlins, caravan sites and the like. We aren’t really into caravan holidays and sometimes a full week at Center Parcs is a bit budget breaking. We’ve had lovely holidays at Forest Holidays a few times but it misses things which we need with two children - swimming pool, a shop on site, etc which Bluestone does have.

WOULD WE GO BACK?

The million dollar question - the answer is a resounding YES!!!! Excellent value for money, lots to do on site and plenty of places to visit in the local area. We really enjoyed every second of our holiday and wouldn’t hesitate to return. We are slightly ahead of ourselves and have already booked our mid-year holiday for 2016 but we will definitely be back in 2017!